Nerdy Birdy

I'm currently attending university to study avian pharmaceuticals, and pursue an advanced career in avian medicine - with ambitions to become a well-known ornithological author and illustrator.

[goodfuuuuuuuckinriddance]

people who are afraid of snakes are fuckin’ WILD, like dude, just carefully step over these fat babies’ sausage bodies and gently move the burmese python chillin’ against the door, then you become unfathomably rich. i would do this for $10. i would do this for FREE. 

[william-snekspeare]

I would pay $10 to do this

[cuttleskulls]

GG EZ

[Patreon]

[windforge]

me

[the-mighty-python]

exactly!

[nerdybirdyyyy-blog]

My parents anniversary was today, they were tickled by their cake. :) 

[nerdybirdyyyy-blog]

Everyday since he died, has been a fight to survive. How do you move forwards when all you want to do is dig a grave and lay beside him?

Ariel Vetrano (Nerdy Birdy)

[nerdybirdyyyy-blog]

Cancer isn't just a bald scalp. It's a full head of hair with a nebulizer, oxygen tank, heart monitor and bloody nose. Coughing up blood between doses of Morphine, Valium & Dilaudid. It's pale skin, bruised from broken and breaking bones - or collapsing veins from too many transfusion & dark circles from sleepless nights. Cancer isn't just a ribbon. It's the sound of Doctors and Nurses gossiping in the hallway - or the buzzing of bright hospital lights during an emergency visit at 3:00AM. It's struggling to take a step, feeling as though your lungs will explode from your chest or your heart will cave into itself. Cancer isn't just goodbye. Cancer is hello to a whole new life.

Ariel Vetrano (Nerdy Birdy)

[nerdybirdyyyy-blog]

You were a botanist. I thought you could be happy with just me, but I was foolish to believe you would only want one flower in your garden. That is my own fault.

Ariel Vetrano (Nerdy Birdy)

[nerdybirdyyyy-blog]

I'm commonly approached with the question: How are you so confident? And truthfully, I'm not that confident of a person. I might occasionally appear that way, but I'm genuinely pessimistic... And I'm not as lionhearted as people give me credit for. I'm doubtful and hesitant, frightened by the thought of being crucified into the person I actually am underneath all of the counterfeit smiles and mock-up comedy. I'm a fraud, embezzling people's honest feelings and robbing their candid hearts. I'm a burglar of personalities, modelling someone new everyday just to camouflage the calamity beneath the make-up. I'm a performer on the street corner, I'll do anything to persuade you into believing I'm untroubled by my situation. Garnering coins of your affections and evading your afflictions. God help those that idolize me, for they are exalting a fake. I'm unworthy of their attachment, unworthy of their goodwill, unworthy of their friendship & unworthy of their charity. I'm the human plague - if they touch me, they too will become infected by the poison in my veins. They too will become masked defeatist.

Ariel Vetrano (Nerdy Birdy)

[sp-idoexist]

I love the point in horror games when Mark starts yelling at the band : p

Quick sketch of Mark and his orchestra hiding in the tall grass inspired most recently by Outlast 2

-idoexistart

[drferox]

Can't afford the vet, can't afford the pet.

When we in the veterinary industry defiantly cry “If you can’t afford the vet then you can’t afford the pet,” please try to understand what we’re talking about.

We’re not talking about people that have a pet for years, fall on hard times and can’t find the $3000 it needs for surgery or intensive care. Life happens. Goodness knows most of us don’t have that kind of money lying around either.

We’re talking about people who spend $1000’s on a new puppy… But can’t afford vaccines, desexing or heartworm preventative.

We’re talking about people who ‘rescue’ an animal but fail to provide it with basic care.

Or ‘rescues’ that aren’t treating the issues of animals they acquire, especially if they delay treatment to beg for donations online.

And the people that haven’t wanted to spend money on preventative care for their senior pet for the last three years because “she’s old and will die soon.”

Or the ones that spend hundreds of dollars on doggy fashion accessories but accuse you of price gouging on antibiotics.

Who can’t borrow $50 from all the people they know, but want a payment plan from you. And a discount because they ‘rescued’ it as a puppy.

For whom $20 of take home pain relief is ‘just too much’.

Who keep acquiring more and more animals with problems that need extensive treatment that they can’t pay for.

Look, we don’t want to see anything suffer and will help out when we can, and try to tailor things to your budget…

But if you can’t afford BASIC veterinary care, then you cannot afford the pet. Don’t get it.

[sureheart-deactivated20171127]

this doesnt make any sense cause you start off by saying that youre not talking about people who in general cant afford going to the vet normally and that youre talking about people who spend money on insignificant stuff for the animal instead of vet care but that doesnt go in line with “if you cant afford it dont get it” because they can afford it they just dont do it… saying that “if you cant afford it then dont get it” specifically targets people who cannot afford vet care and i know that there are a LOT of pet owners who cant and i am one so if youre not trying to say that then you should change that statement cause that is what it is 100% implying like are poor people just not supposed to have pets cause they cant afford expensive ass vets? so many more animals would not have homes and would have to be euthanized if that happens so

also theres a difference between spending money on vet care for life threatening problems than just having to spend money for not so necessary vet care

[drferox]

It makes plenty of sense.

$3000 is not “going to the vet normally”. That’s orthopaedic surgery, an exploratory lapatoromy or major care. Not everyone has that lying around, and we get that. If a pet is that bad, euthanasia is still a means of providing care, especially if a cancer is involved of they are actively suffering.

Average cost of vet care in my practice is about $120 for a minor medical problem, $350-550 for a significant one before surgery or intensive care. It’s about $80 for a consult and pain relief. I consider that pretty basic.

If you don’t spend the money on ‘not so necessary vet care’, in your words, then you are likely to cause additional suffering and end up with a bigger vet bill in the near future. But if you do that, I will be blamed as ‘the expensive ass vet’ for needing to do more to fix a problem that could have been preventable.

Don’t get proper flea treatments ($6 to $20), end up needing oxygen therapy, blood transfusion and intensive care (would have been $1500-4000).

Don’t get a parvovirus vaccination for puppies ($50 to 80), end up needing intensive care, week long hospital stay, plasma transfusion, cocktail of 5 different medications and intravenous nutrition, ($2000+), and they’re in pain.

I’m in a low heartworm area, so I don’t see it all that often, but you can prevent it for $4 per month instead of forking out big bucks to treat a parasite living in your dog’s heart and causing heart failure. And by the way, treating it can also be lethal.

We frequently see dogs present with massive (eg melon sized) tumours that owners finally want removed because it’s ulcerating through the skin, but it’s been there for years and they’ve watched it grow. It would have been a 20 minute surgery to remove two years ago, but now it’s going to be a 90 minute or more surgery, plus a skin graft.

Even cats that get into fights are an example. $30 of antibiotics on the day the fight happens almost always prevents the abscess formation that will need $300 of surgery a few days later.

What you describe as “not so necessary vet care” is what I describe as “going to the vet normally.” It’s intended to prevent suffering, to reduce the need for the catastrophes that require intensive treatment and big vet bills. Yet somehow it’s always the veterinarian’s fault for being ‘expensive’ when consulted at the last minute instead of seeking advice when the problem first started.

If you can’t afford the $100 or so for a vet visit and basic treatment, or borrow it in a hurry, if you can’t afford their basic care, then you need to have a good hard look at your situation. A pet is unfortunately not a right. They are a luxury and a responsibility.

And as veterinarians we’re getting pretty tired of being blamed for owners not taking responsibility earlier, or at all. It’s easier for owners to blame vets for being ‘expensive’ instead of themselves for having done the wrong thing.

[drferox]

Oh looks like, you deleted your reply while I was typing mine. That’s ok, I saved it though because it’s a common viewpoint I think the vet students reading this would benefit from encountering.

Is it not also ‘pretty fucked up’ to point fingers at the vets providing the care?

If you’re homeless or at risk with a pet, I’d do any urgent care and first aid, but recommend you get your basic care from Pets in the Park. If you don’t quite qualify but are still struggling, I will recommend the correct over the counter products that you may or may not find coupons or online deals for. This isn’t a hypothetical either, I have many clients that get their vaccines and preventatives at their cheapest options, but they come back to me when there’s a problem. They get their teeth sorted during the dental month discounts. I can contact the Pet Medical Crisis Fund if it qualifies. As long as that pet is getting what it needs somewhere I don’t have a problem with that. If you’re going to scream and hiss at me in my clinic saying I should give you things for free instead, or that it’s my fault if something bad happens, then you are a bad person.

If you can just afford one pet, do you really think it’s a good idea to get multiples? I don’t, and that’s why I only have one. I know pets aren’t a right.

I see lots of pets that “never had to go to the vet” and unfortunately they’re usually cats. They’re usually cats in their last days with one or more of the following: rotten teeth or dental disease, fleas, hyperthyrodism, renal failure, tumour (intra-abdominal is most common), FIV, arthritis. Dogs often have symptoms of Cushing’s instead of hyperT. They would have benefited from vet care, and in many cases I would have been able to extend their life. In many cases I can’t because of the owner’s decisions.

And I do have homeless clients. It might surprise you to know that it’s easier for many of them to find $20 for medication than it is to find a room to live in. I give them lists divided into things that need to happen now,and things that need to happen soon, and what can wait without impacting the welfare of their pet. It also might surprise you, but they can still achieve basic veterinary care. Please don’t talk about them as some distant, horrific hypothetical because they’re real people and they’re here. I don’t know how they keep pulling themselves together, but they consistently do.

I don’t make financial decisions for my clients, but I’m not in a position to give treatment away for free and I’m no longer putting up with people blaming me for their pet needing medical care. I’m no longer taking the mental toll from euthanizing animals I could have treated when it is the owner declining treatment.

We should all try to see other people’s point of view. Social media easily provided everyone with an echo chamber for their own opinions, it’s too easy to just block dissenting voices and accidentally believe everyone agrees with you. The first sentence of the OP asks readers to try to understand, and we’re not talking about thousands of dollars. We’re talking about less than a hundred dollars to afford the luxury of a pet.

[becausebirds]

Are you possessed by the devil?

[newbirder]

A Great Horned Owl rests on a branch at Paynes Prairie State Park.

zambellophotography.com

[coolthingoftheday]

This photograph of a sturgeon has been making the rounds on Facebook lately, freaking people out because they couldn’t figure out what it was. 

[coolthingoftheday]

It has come to my attention that many people find this picture scary - but I actually think sturgeon are big squishy babies? I mean

look

at their faces

HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THAT? And their mouths:

Sturgeon are actually bottom-feeders! They don’t even have teeth. 

But I really can see why people are creeped out by them! They look like dinosaurs. And they kind of are, in a way - they’re a relic of a bygone era, dating back over 208 million years ago to the Triassic period.

The sad thing about this, though, is that since sturgeon grow so large, live so long, and have survived on our planet for so many years, they reproduce very, very slowly. Over the years, this has led to the decline of sturgeon populations, with some subspecies - like the kaluga - becoming critically endangered.

Maybe it’s because I saw them on River Monsters (one of my favorite wildlife shows! Seriously, go check it out), but I’ve always had a massive soft spot for sturgeon. The only dangerous thing about them is that they sometimes breach out of the water, and this tendency has occasionally led to the deaths of boaters because they’re so massive. 

(Side note: I saw a sturgeon while I was at the aquarium portion of the Biodome, and it was SO CUTE AND IT WAS SO BIG AND I LOVED IT AND I JUST SPENT LIKE 45 MINUTES WATCHING IT SWIM AROUND.)

Also, here’s a babby sturgeon because they are very cute and very smol.

[1000drawings]

by めんつゆ

[yonialter]

Run Beagle Run

[hoovesandheartbeats]

Source

[soontobedvm]

Useful Anatomy Websites

Since my vet school semester/block has started, I have seen a plethora of eager first years donning smelly lab coats, entering the dungeon of doom, and frantically wonder how they will ever retain all of this anatomy information. Well, never fear, your upperclassman is here with some useful resources to make cramming those impossibly tiny structures into your brain a little bit easier. 

1) Virtual Canine Anatomy by CSU: (https://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/vetneuro/VCA3/vca.html). 

This website is AMAZING!!!! It is organized by section and you can sit in your PJs as you go through real pictures of anatomy that are very detailed and extremely helpful (they even have quizzes!). USE THIS WEBSITE!!!!!! 

2) Veterinary Anatomy:  (http://vanat.cvm.umn.edu/) 

Another wonderful website for real pictures of carnivore and ungulate anatomy! I supplemented VCA with this one and found it useful, especially starting in second semester when we began large animal/ungulates. 

3) Cornell’s Horse Dissection: (http://www.vet.cornell.edu/oed/horsedissection/search.asp)

Pretty dang useful in second semester when we focused on the equine (and bovine). 

4) Limb Anatomy: (http://apps.cvm.iastate.edu/limbanatomy/)

5) Equine Transverse Sections:(https://instruction.cvhs.okstate.edu/Anatomy/Horse/EquineOverviewInteractive.asp)

5) 3D bones: (http://real3danatomy.com/bones/dog-skeleton-3d.html)

Happy studying!

[wildlifeaid]

This new visitor caused a bit of a stir in our treatment room, recently! This little bird is a very pretty fledgeling long-tailed tit, and was brought into us after being found alone with no sign of it’s nest or parents. A delighted Emma and Naomi checked the bird over, and luckily found no injuries. It was very bright and seemed raring to go! We shall keep monitoring it for a short while and, when it is ready, it will be back to the wild!

[booprenorphine]

There is NO physiological or medical reason why a female dog must have a litter of pups.

Stop spreading bullshit like ‘I want my dog to experience the miracle of motherhood at least once before neutering’.